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September 12, 2007
Black Cultural Center arts ensembles to study the blues in Memphis
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Members of four performing arts ensembles from Purdue University's Black Cultural Center will travel to Memphis, Tenn., and the Mississippi Delta region as part of a field research tour with a focus on the blues.The tour is in keeping with the BCC's theme for the semester "The myths and mores that make up the blues tradition." For the past five years, BCC performing arts ensemble participants have engaged in an artistic field research experience during fall break at a site pertinent to exploration of the semester topic.
"This semester, our focus is on the blues, one of America's greatest musical treasures," said BCC director Renee Thomas. "By studying the content of the blues songs, students can learn about experiences and struggles of the working class southerners who created music, including the legacies of slavery and the cotton economy in the south, the development of Jim Crow, the Great Migration and the Civil Rights Movement."
The blues is a root music form that evolved out of African-American work songs, field ballads, spirituals and country string ballads more than a century ago. It is regarded as the foundation of virtually every major American music form born in the 20th Century, including jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and hip hop.
"Memphis is widely recognized as the birthplace of the blues," Thomas said. "Although a tour of Memphis cannot revive the blues era, the spirit of the time still lingers within the art and culture of the city. This trip is intended to give students a visual impression of the past and lend authenticity to their representation of various blues artists for the Cultural Arts Festival in December.
Activities during the research trip include a trip to the W.C. Handy Memphis Home and Museum, the Rock n Soul Museum, the Center for Southern Folklore and a dance performance by Ballet at Wheels Dance Theatre at the University of Memphis. Theater and music classes will be held at the Hattiloo Theatre.
The students will dramatize what they learn about the blues tradition at the BCC Cultural Arts Festival. The showcase will be performed at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at Stewart Center's Loeb Playhouse. Call (765) 494-3092 for ticket information.
The BCC's four performing arts ensembles are the Black Voices of Inspiration, a choir that specializes in gospel music, spirituals and contemporary songs by African-American composers; Haraka Writers, a group of student poets, essayists and short-story writers; Jahari Dance Troupe, which performs a repertoire including African, ballet, folk, jazz, tap and modern dance; and the New Directional Players, a theater group with a focus on presenting drama about the African-American experience.
To contact the BCC, call (765) 494-3092.
Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu
Source: Renee Thomas, (765) 494-3091, rathomas@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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